Spiel Essen expands again to ‘max out’ venue space, now bigger than 15 American football fields

The world’s largest board game fair, Spiel Essen, says it has reached the limits of its expansion at its long-time home after boosting floor space again this year due to “overwhelming interest” from exhibitors.

Organiser Merz Verlag said it has expanded this year’s exhibition space to fill all eight main halls at Messe Essen, covering an area of 81,200 sq m – larger than 15 American football fields.

That expansion makes the massive game fair more than 50% larger than the exhibition space at US board game convention Gen Con – although its North American peer also boasts a vast, separate expanse of gaming tables, tournaments and live events that Spiel Essen does not.

Soaring interest in the show has now seen Spiel Essen boost its floor space four times in as many years, with this year’s event in October set to be about 30% larger than the already massive 62,500 sq m show which took place in 2023.

Merz Verlag said it had already received an “exceptionally high” number of registrations from exhibitors for the 2026 event, with eight weeks of the sign-up period still to go.

It added that demand had come both from long-term exhibitors keen to “significantly increase” their booth space, as well as an “impressive number” of first-time exhibitors hoping to attend this year.

A statement from the company said, “While the fair traditionally hosts many new small booths introducing their first games, the number of new exhibitors is particularly high this year.”

Spiel Essen’s expansion into a seventh hall last year helped the four-day show to a record 220,000 attendance, outstripping the 209,000 visitor record it set just before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The show might have broken its attendance record in 2024 were it not for a self-imposed visitor cap, which limited the number of attendees each day to about 50,000 – a measure introduced alongside wider aisles post-pandemic to help visitors move around the often crowded halls more easily.

Carol Rapp, the Merz Verlag managing director responsible for Spiel Essen since 2023, said, “The fact that we can already plan the opening of a new hall and the full occupancy of the grounds is fantastic – it’s a sign of both the international importance of our fair and the vitality of the gaming industry.

“Spiel and the industry are growing, and we are creating the necessary space for this development.”

Rapp told BoardGameWire ahead of last year’s show in October that one of the most asked questions of her was whether Spiel Essen would look to expand into Hall 8, which was utilised as an empty area for people to queue while waiting for the show floor to open.

She told BoardGameWire at the time, “If I could, I want to stay having seven halls for at least two more years. But I was also saying that last year [2024] about the six halls, and then we had so many applications that were telling us ‘We want to grow. We are new, we want to be part of that’… ‘OK. But if we do that, we need to open another hall’.

“So who are we to decide for the market, if they want to grow, that we don’t do that – as long as we have the space for that? We want to make the best Spiel possible for everybody, so of course, if we are facing another year with so many applications, so many square metres booked that we should open another hall, we will think about it. But my personal wish is not to do it next year [2026].”

Merz Verlag says it now plans to use the underground Hall 1A for attendees waiting for the show to open each day.

That space was also considered as a potential expansion space for exhibitors, Rapp told BoardGameWire after last year’s show, saying there could be scope to expand its RPG and artists areas into the space.

She said at the time, “It feels a little bit like a dungeon, but a dungeon is quite a cool place for RPGs. So maybe that could be a good idea. That area is growing again, and it was growing from last year to this year [2025].”

But Spiel Essen replied to a Facebook comment this morning to say that it had ruled that out, saying, “We received feedback and realised that Hall 1A was not attractive as an exhibition hall for publishers and visitors. For this reason – and because a waiting hall is a nice thing to have – we removed Hall 1A from the plans.”

Spiel Essen previously implemented a shake-up of how its halls were organised three years ago, in an attempt to make it easier for visitors to navigate an event which Rapp said at the time had become “a little bit of a mess” after 40 years of growth.

That split the fair into separate segments for children’s, family and light-to-medium games, expert games, tabletop and miniature games, roleplaying games and trading card games, with a mix of small, medium and large booths in each zone – a decision which was initially criticised by some publishers, but seems to have ultimately gone down well.

Merz Verlag said the latest expansion would also necessitates “adjustments to the existing hall structure, which the fair team is currently working on at full speed”.

It said, “The team will not overhaul the general hall logic but will optimize certain areas to accommodate the growth wishes of large exhibitors as well as the increase in new, small booths.

“Despite some shifts in sections, the halls will remain divided into clear categories, and the familiar mix of major publishers and small developers will be maintained. The goal is to provide visitors with clear orientation and a first-class fair experience despite the increased size.”

As part of those changes, Spiel Essen will open its north entrance for the first time this year, which leads directly into Hall 5.

Rapp said, “For us, growth also means responsibility. We are working closely with the venue to ensure the experience remains positive for every fan.

“The experience of recent years shows that our planning has led to good visitor flow in the halls and that many routes at the fair have improved overall.

“I am absolutely confident that with the new measures, we will create an even better entry situation, allowing all visitors to enjoy Spiel in a relaxed atmosphere.”

Spiel’s fourth floor space expansion in as many years raises the question of how Merz Verlag will expand the fair further at Messe Essen, its home for the last 40 years, if interest from exhibitors continues to grow.

BoardGameWire has contacted the organiser to ask if other locations are being considered for the event, and will update this article if it receives a reply.